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Tank may have already released his final album, but the R&B veteran has saved his best for last. The singer once again crowns Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart as “See Through Love” featuring Chris Brown ascends to the summit on the list dated May 20. The new leader is the fourth No. 1 from his final album, R&B Money, becoming the first ever by a solo male to generate a quartet of champs.

“See Through Love” advances from the runner-up spot after a 4% increase in plays that made it the most-played song on U.S. monitored adult R&B radio stations in the week ending May 11, according to Luminate. The single ousts Ravyn Lanae’s “Skin Tight” featuring Steve Lacy after the latter’s one-week command.

With “See Through Love,” Tank banks his eighth No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay, and his chart-topping rate has soared in recent years. After capturing two No. 1s in the 16 years from his 2001 chart debut until 2017, he has logged six leaders in the past six years. Consistency, too, has become a standard, with only two of his eight chart entries since 2017 – “I Don’t Think You’re Ready” (No. 3) and a featured turn on J. Brown’s “Don’t Rush” (No. 7) — missing the top spot.

Here’s a recap Tank’s No. 1 titles on Adult R&B Airplay:

“Please Don’t Go,” No. 1 for 10 weeks, beginning May 19, 2007

“Next Breath,” one, June 16, 2012

“When We,” 11, Nov. 18, 2017

“Dirty,” three, April 20, 2019

“Can’t Let It Show,” two, July 3, 2021

“I Deserve,” one, March 19, 2022

“Slow,” featuring J Valentine two, Nov. 5, 2022

“See Through Love,” featuring Chris Brown, one (to date), May 20, 2023

As his last four No. 1 all spring from R&B Money, the album makes history as the first by a solo male artist to produce that at least many No. 1s on Adult R&B Airplay. Overall, it’s the third set to manage the feat, following Toni Braxton’s self-titled debut LP (“Another Sad Love Song,” “Breathe Again,” “Seven Whole Days” and “You Mean the World to Me”) in 1993-94 and Silk Sonic’s An Evening With Silk Sonic (“Leave the Door Open,” “Smokin’ out the Window,” “Love’s Train” and “After Last Night,” featuring Bootsy Collins and Thundercat) in 2021-22.

“I am truly humbled and honored to have reached my [eighth] No. 1 hit,” Tank said in a press release. “This milestone is a testament to my fans’ incredible support and love throughout the years. I couldn’t have achieved this without the amazing collaboration with Chris Brown, whose talent and dedication are unparalleled. I want to thank everyone involved in making ‘See Through Love’ a success, and most importantly, my fans who inspire me daily.”

For featured artist Chris Brown, “See Through Love” secures his fourth No. 1 Adult R&B Airplay hit. The R&B superstar previously reigned with “No Guidance,” featuring Drake (11 weeks in 2020), “Go Crazy,” with Young Thug (seven, 2020-21) and in a supporting role on H.E.R.’s “Come Through” (one, 2022).

Coco Jones is aiming to kick down doors and usher in a whole new generation of fearless Black women right alongside her.
Walking the balance beam of music and acting, Jones has emerged as as a fast-rising double threat. The vivacious soul singer is grabbing ears and stealing hearts with her R&B hits, while also appearing on Peacock’s Bel-Air as the self-assured Gen-Z version of ’90s character Hilary Banks.

After signing to Def Jam in 2022, Jones released her major label debut project, What I Didn’t Tell You. Soaked in buttery vocals and gripping tales about heartbreak, WIDTU was the perfect entrance for the former child star who had breakout roles in Disney Channel shows and films including So Random!, Good Luck Charlie and Let It Shine.

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On her debut, only does she seamlessly flip SWV’s “Rain” into the addictive “Double Back,” but she flaunts her range on the Hot 100 hit “ICU.” Laden with emotion, “ICU” deals with the push and pull of a fallen relationship and proves why Jones has the potential to be one of the genre’s strongest vocalists. 

“I was used to 12-hour work days, which didn’t faze me,” says Jones. “As a kid, I was on set during school. I was always working my little butt off. This is just what I do for my dreams.” Despite being a workhorse, Jones believes she’s still a work in progress in the music department, but is willing and eager to learn more to put the next generation on. 

“Every time I sing ‘ICU,’ I find a new way to make it iconic because I don’t want the next girl to struggle how I struggled to get here,” she says. “We’re all talented. It should be easier. So that’s what I gotta do. I’m gonna kill it every time so that it will be easier one day.”

Billboard caught up with June’s R&B / Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month, Coco Jones, to speak about the success of “ICU,” the best advice SZA gave her and her mission to help Black women succeed.

Thinking about your Disney origins, does the pressure ever get to you knowing that only Zendaya has made the transition to music from a Black woman standpoint? 

I think it’s very difficult and there were times where I was kind of in fear, but it was more of the uncertainty of when, if and how. Sometimes, it’s just like, “How the hell am I supposed to do this?” I think it’s hard enough to rebrand anything. If Coca Cola wanted to start selling cake, I would look at them so crazy because that’s not what you told us you do. So I think for me, I was like, “Somebody’s gotta help me.” That’s what I wanted the most; somebody else who knew how to figure this rebrand out. I’ll do my part. I’ll do the writing, I’ll do the creating, find myself and be vulnerable enough to tell ’em, but somebody gotta make somebody care. I feel like that was the part that really clicked for me and everything changed when I got the right team. Also, it took time to get to that. I had several promises and only one time did they pay out the way they were told to me, you know? That’s been my entire career, though. 

Talk about the freedom you were able to have on this project as a Def Jam signee versus when you were first signed after the success of your 2012 film Let It Shine. 

For me, you don’t know what you’re missing until you learn about it. For me, from Tennessee, just me and my mama doing this and trying to figure it out, having any label behind me, having any team was all so amazing. I had no creative control then. I just sang what they told me to sing. I would write songs and they wouldn’t like ’em and I was like, “OK. Cool.” I didn’t know. I think I was super delusional and I was so green. 

Now, having the experience of looking back at the old songs, I’m now like, “Wait. That was fire.” Then, doing the math and seeing my other peers and creatives like SZA and H.E.R. and [thinking] “I would sing a song like that. Why didn’t I do that? Wait. You can dress like that on stage? That’s allowed?” I had epiphanies as I came to have a life and have experiences. I remember even the first time I said a curse word on a song. I wrote it for someone else and then I was even scared to have my voice on the demo saying that. I had to get out of the box, because I was so deeply in this cookie cutter box. 

You’ve said in a past interview that your best guide is your intuition. Did your intuition tell you that “ICU” would be your biggest hit when you were recording it? 

You know what? I think it didn’t [laughs]. I didn’t know it was going to be my biggest hit. There’s this thing I would do since when I was a kid where the actual soul would come out. I used to do it all the time when I would audition. I would sing “Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin and I would pretend I was Aretha, like I been through the storm and this is my song. “You’re going to feel this,” but I’m nine. I don’t know anything. So I do give a lot of credit to my mom for even introducing me to that type of soul, emotion and that raw vulnerability that I learned to imitate, but I knew when I heard the track, I just knew [it was special]. I just knew I was going to do some sh-t. 

You’ve also deemed this your most confident era. When did you find that sweet spot and start living life confidently? 

Hmm. This was probably around the time that TikTok really popped me off again. Like the resurgence of relevancy was baffling. So I was like, “Wait a minute. These people still care? Ok. I gotta do something with this.” Like I thought I did enough. I really thought out of sight, out of mind and I don’t have no new show. I don’t have no new song. But when I told my story on the internet on YouTube, when I saw the wave of support, that didn’t go away. It kind of charged me up. Like, it would be a shame for me to not give these people that support me a reason to keep supporting me. I gotta put stuff out with my chest. 

How do you balance being Hilary [on TV] and then Coco?

I think there’s no option but to do what must be done. I realized that I signed my name to both of these entities. I signed to two companies. One was NBC, Peacock and then Def Jam my second. So they both require me to get my job done, so I just do my job [laughs]. There’s no balance, though. There’s what can be done to work around the other and not like, “Ok. I have to be here. What can we do when I’m done with that? Then, I can go there.” It’s really about just figuring it out. There’s really no balance. It just depends on the schedule. 

Have there been times when you caught yourself pulling from the Hilary Banks character when you’re in artist-mode?

Hilary’s a boss. I feel like she has a certain way that she sees her image, her career and trajectory, and nothing can sway her from that being what it is. I wanna tap into that more. I feel like I’m very self-assured of where I want it all to go, but I think I get stuff from Hilary because I’m still a rookie. There’s some things that I have to be educated on by people that have been here longer than me. So in one sense, I’m very decisive like Hilary, but I’m also very much more collaborative with my team. 

When you get cosigns from artists like SZA and Janet Jackson, do those mean more to you than any of the love you’ve gotten from the acting side? 

[Laughs] Well, because I was singing first and singing is my home, it does hit a little differently that people acknowledge who I wanna be as really good. That does hit differently. I do appreciate the love for Hilary, but at the end of the day, I’m just reading these words. But with me, this came from my heart. So to know that people are supportive of what came from my heart and literal spirit, yes, it hits very different. 

SZA once told you that you needed to live life with a bit more delusion. How have you incorporated that into your everyday life? 

I think just making my goals galaxy-big instead of medium-sized like they used to be. [They used to be] very logical, percentages and statistics, like, “What are the chances of…” I would really look these things up before I decided it was something I wanted, just to be safe. But that’s not the life I’m trying to live. I’m trying to live in delusion. If that’s where you want to get to, to shoot for the galaxy and at least hit the moon, then that’s how I’m gonna shoot. I think making all of my goals insanely large and not fact-based, not percentage-based, not based on my skin color or the genre [is the way to go]. 

You said your goal is to make a new standard for Black women. What steps are you taking to rewrite those standards?

I think showing up as the best version of me in every category. Like you said, the balance game of playing all of these roles is not easy. There are times where I feel like I could half-ass it and it would still be good, but no. I know that for where I want these next generation of Black girls to be able to walk into, I have to break those doors down and you don’t get there by just being good. You have to be jawdropping.

PinkPantheress and Ice Spice each score a first No. 1 on a Billboard radio airplay chart as their collaboration, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” tops the Rhythmic Airplay list. The viral-turned-radio hit advances from the runner-up slot to lead the chart dated May 20, despite being slightly down (less than 1%, though), in plays. Still, the track leads the airplay list as the most-played song on U.S. monitored rhythmic radio stations in the week ending May 11, according to Luminate.

“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” replaces another collaboration, Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” at the summit. The latter recedes 1-2 after two weeks on top, as it declined 6% in weekly plays.

PinkPantheress claims her first Rhythmic Airplay leader through her first appearance. For Ice Spice, it’s her second visit that does the trick. Her breakthrough single, “Munch (Feelin’ U),” peaked at No. 27 last November. Beyond the new champ, the rapper has two more tracks on the current Rhythmic Airplay list: “In Ha Mood,” which slips one rung from its No. 8 best after a 7% loss in weekly plays, and “Princess Diana,” her collaboration with Nicki Minaj, up 29-20 as the week’s Greatest Gainer thanks to a 58% swell in plays.

“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” was first released as a solo single by PinkPantheress, “Boy’s a Liar,” in November 2022. The 22-year old Brit co-wrote the song with Mura Masa, who himself has a Rhythmic Airplay chart credit as an artist: “Lovesick,” featuring A$AP Rocky, reached No. 40 in 2017. In February, Ice Spice joined the track for a remix, denoted as the “Pt. 2” titular addition. The collaboration sparked a streaming surge, prompting the song’s No. 4 debut on the Streaming Songs chart before it reached the top slot two weeks later. (Both versions of the song are combined for tracking/charting purposes, under the title “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2.”)

Elsewhere, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” holds at its No. 7 peak thus far on Pop Airplay, though it improved 1% in weekly plays. The song also debuts at the anchor slot, No. 40, on Adult Pop Airplay following a 5% rise in plays.

Chicago’s G Herbo is continuing his mental health advocacy. He announced his new non-profit organization, Swervin’ Through Stress, on Wednesday (May 17). The organization will help increase mental health awareness in the African American community through next week’s activations. Beginning May 20, Swervin’ Through Stress will team up with Social Works for the Black Joy […]

Blxst and his Evgle record label have teamed up with NBA 2K23 to curate the new season 7 soundtrack. Two of the eight tracks from the soundtrack are from Blxst’s recent Just for Clarity 2 EP: “Passionate,” featuring Roddy Ricch, and “Keep Calling,” featuring Larry June. “Spend It” by Babyface Ray, Blxst and Nija is […]

Warning: the following story contains descriptions of an alleged sexual assault. British rapper Slowthai‘s name appeared to be quietly scrubbed from the lineups of the Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds festivals on Tuesday (May 16) after the MC appeared in court on two charges of rape. The 28-year-old rapper (born Tyron Frampton) was charged with two […]

Like father, like daughter! Travis Barker’s 17-year-old daughter Alabama Barker took to TikTok over the weekend to tease a new original song. “But listen who the f— y’all talking to / I’m Alabama, get to know me, I might sp-z on you,” the teen is seen lip-syncing in the video over her debut rap track. “Treat […]

SZA is all about supporting women and their sexual expression. The “Kill Bill” singer came to Janelle Monáe’s defense on Monday (May 15) amid online backlash toward the “Lipstick Lover” singer, who has been showing off a newer, sexier side of herself leading up to her The Age of Pleasure album release. “I love that […]

We’re well into May, and the summer heat just keeps coming. From electronic and house-tinged cuts by Overmono and Emotional Oranges to irresistible rap songs by way of Monaleo and Jermtown, we’ve got everything you need to start off the warmer months right with indie and emerging artists from across the globe.

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Check out our Spotify playlist that includes all our fresh picks from this month, and don’t forget to share the wealth.

Freshest Find: Victoria Monét feat. Buju Banton, “Party Girls”

Victoria Monét is on a roll. The cult-favorite singer joined forces with dancehall mainstay Buju Banton on a single that packs more than enough heat for a summer filled with nights out. The multi-hyphenate flaunts her plethora of talents, unfurling routines of hypnotic moves from scene to scene in the visual dedicated to the “party girls lightin’ up the world.”

Overmono, “Cold Blooded”

If electronic music isn’t really your speed, Overmono is here to ease you in. On “Cold Blooded,” the UK duo builds on an Afrobeats-esque drum pattern and R&B melodies, combined with gritty synths and a classically electronic instrumental bridge with chopped and filtered vocals.

Jermtown feat. FELIX!, “2002”

Michigan’s Jermtown comes together with Massachusetts rapper FELIX! on the carefree “2002.” The Sara Kawai and Ayeitsnate-produced beat carries Detroit sensibilities while the two rappers do their part by staying true to the city’s laidback cadence. In a black and white video reminiscent of Pusha T and Kanye West’s “Diet Coke” the up-and-coming pair stroll around a white-washed studio firing off punch-line filled verses.

Emotional Oranges feat. Nonso Amadi, “Not Worthy”

“I’m the reason we fell through,” declares “A.” of Emotional Oranges on the opening line of “Not Worthy.” The beautifully self-depricating cut is a series of admissions set to a smooth house-infused instrumental as “V.” delivers a string of harmonies throughout the three-minute cut.

Obongjayar, “Just Cool”

Wanna feel cool? Obongjayar has the perfect thing. This groovy cut is perfect for that iconic movie scene where the awkward teen protagonist embraces their true self, as the London-based artist declares, “Do what you want/Just leave me be/Do what you want/Just give me peace.”

Aaron May, “Stay Humble”

It’s May season, both literally and figuratively as Houston artist Aaron May has returned with his new single “Stay Humble.” The boom-bap rap song finds the rapper spitting about hustling and grinding his way to success. “Stay Humble” is the first glimpse into May’s upcoming project which is slated to release later this year.

Josh Levi, “Birthday Dance”

Josh Levi will bust a move at any given time. On his new single “Birthday Dance,” the singer slows it down, urging his lover to dance for him. The song is an addition to his 2022 EP Disc Two.

DD Osama, “Better Days”

Channeling Y2K romantic rap by way of warm guitar chords, NYC drill rapper DD Osama delivers a tender moment on his debut project, Here To Stay. The 16-year-old artist taps into his poetic side, showing a knack for introspection far beyond his age.

Monaleo, “A– Kickin’”

Despite announcing her pregnancy last month, Monaleo is showing no signs of slowing down. “Monaleo, big bully/taking names, a– kickin’,” she raps. The track will appear on her upcoming album Where the Flowers Don’t Die.

Bandmanrill, “Mr. D.C.T.”

Bandmanrill adds a Jersey Club spin to Crystal Waters’s 1991 track “Gypsy Woman.” The Newark native has been a rising voice and is helping bring the genre into the mainstream with his youthful energy and uptempo tracks.

Slowthai appeared in court Tuesday (May 16) on two charges of rape and took to Instagram after the court appearance to deny the allegations. “Regarding the allegations being reported about me. I categorically deny the charges,” the 28-year-old British rapper wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. “I am innocent and I am confident my […]